Becoming the Dragneels
by fantasmefantastic
Summary: Milestones on the way to Natsu and Lucy's big day. 02. pinterest & people. The road to the altar is a scary one; a bride and groom need the best weapons and strongest warriors.
1. forever a bridesmaid

**title:** forever a bridesmaid  
 **pairing:** NaLu. hints of laxanna, galevy, gruvia  
 **summary:** Lucy gets drunk and jealous and impatient at Cana's wedding. Good thing Natsu knows her better than she knows herself.  
 **author's note:** I saw a video of an actual bride doing this and I thought it was super sweet, and I was also reading _Fairy Tail_ at the time - so, ta da! I'm so lame. It's a little sad.

* * *

Lucy was so totally _not_ jealous.

Her complete lack of jealousy was probably a little alarming.

Because any sane woman who had been in a stable relationship for three years would be maybe a _little_ jealous of her best friend getting married to her childhood sweetheart, right?

But not Lucy.

Because she was the best maid of honor, like, ever.

And she was so totally not jealous.

Nor was she drunk.

* * *

Cana and Laxus were married.

After fourteen months of pain staking planning, late nights, last minute adjustments, pre-dawn panicked calls, Lucy's best friend had finally married her childhood sweetheart. It was a cool September evening,, and there was alcoholic shenanigans galore—because _hello, Cana?—_ and the father-daughter dance between Cana and Gildharts made everyone, literally everyone, cry. Laxus had foregone the mother-son dance, as his parents had passed away when he was young, but his grandfather appeared in the middle of the dance floor, already smashed, and shouted that he demanded a dance with his grandson.

Somehow, they had found a quiet moment for a slow dance, after the cake had been cut, and Lucy watched from her seat at the head table, a small smile on her face. Cana looked beautiful in her silk, cut-to-her-figure dress, with flowers in her hair, and a smile on her face.

" _Luuuucy!_ " sang a voice, appearing in the seat beside her. It was Levy, her blue hair done up in a loose bun, looking fabulous in her purple bridesmaid dress, one that matched Lucy's.

"Who let you have tequila?" Lucy groaned, as Levy offered her a glass of wine.

"Oh, you're so silly," Levy giggled, her cheeks flushed with just a smidge of drunkenness, as she affectionately pet her friend's blonde head. It wasn't often that Levy The Med Student got drunk, so when she did, she meant business. "Now, why don't you tell Mama Levy what's the matter?"

"What? Nothing!" Lucy protested. "I'm just taking a break—my feet hurt from all that dancing. These shoes are murder," she said, gesturing to the high heels Cana had chosen for them.

"Silly Lucy, thinking you can lie to Mama Levy like that."

"Please stop calling yourself Mama Levy."

"Natsu noticed it, too! Who do you think sent me over here?" Levy giggled again, gesturing to the other side of the room. Sure enough, dressed in his groomsmen attire, looking handsome as ever was Lucy's boyfriend, sharing a beer with Gray and Juvia. Just as Lucy looked up, Natsu glanced away.

Okay, that was cute. Lucy couldn't help but smile.

"Lucy," Levy said, drawing her friend's attention back. "You know, it's okay to feel a little jealous of Cana."

Lucy groaned, knocked back her wine, and then slumped in her chair.

" _Levy!"_ she moaned, probably a little drunk now. "I want to get married!"

The bluette giggled, "You will, silly. You and Natsu are, like, _forever_."

"But , every time I mention it or talk about it—or before, when I would talk about planning Cana's wedding—he starts acting all weird!" Lucy complained, stealing Levy's glass of wine. "He starts mumbling or changes the subject! One time, he even _ran away."_

"I'm sure he's just uncomfortable about it," Levy consoled. "It did take him approximately two years to ask you out in the first place, after all."

"He _literally_ ran away from the subject, Levy."

" _Lucy,_ Natsu loves you! You two are going to get married, and that's that, ok?"

"Yeah, that's easy for you to say, Mrs. I-went-to-city-hall-without-telling-anyone-Redfox!" Lucy snapped, sending her friend daggers.

"Lucy, I told you, on our anniversary, we'll have a party, and you can plan the whole thing—,"

"NOT GOOD ENOUGH, LEVY."

Levy sighed, patting her friend's shoulder, soothingly. She allowed her friend approximately ten more minutes of self-pity-wallowing, accompanied by several more glasses of wine, before she hauled Lucy to her feet. It was Levy's intention to drag her friend out onto the dance floor, a plan that would have gone swimmingly, had Lucy not caught sight of her boyfriend just then.

"Oh, dear," Levy sighed.

"YOU!" she shouted, jabbing her finger in Natsu's face.

"Uh oh, Scary Lucy," Natsu quailed, attempting to hide behind Gray, who side stepped him.

"You, Natsu Dragneel, are in…are in trouble!" Lucy slurred, stumbling over her words on her feet.

"Okay, you've had a bit too much to drink," Natsu observed.

" _You've_ had too much to drink in _your face_ —ha!"

"That doesn't even make sense."

"Neither does _your face."_

Gray was now laughing.

"Lucy—,"

"NATSU. WHY DON'T YOU LOVE ME?"

"I do love you, you drunken idiot. Will you keep it down, please?"

Gray was now laughing hysterically.

"IF YOU LOVE ME, WHY WON'T YOU MARRY ME?"

Gray was now crying from laughing.

"Lucy, do you really think now is the time to be talking about something like this?"

"I WILL TALK WHEN I WANT TO TALK, NATSU DRAGNEEL."

"Please—please stop shouting…"

"I AM A STRONG, INDEPENDENT WOMAN."

"Yes, Lucy, I know."

"I DON'T NEED NO MAN."

"Of course you don't, dear."

"FEMINSIM."

"Yes, dear."

There would have been a lot more ranting and shouting—which the rest of the wedding party didn't hear, as it was Cana's wedding, and everyone was drunk and shouting—but the DJ interrupted Lucy, mid-swing at Natsu's head.

"Step right up, ladies!" he called into the crowd. "Time to take your chances and hope that Fate will pick _you_ to be the next lucky bride!"

"What?" Lucy panicked, immediately in maid-of-honor-mode. She turned away from Natsu and rushed over to her friend. "Cana, I'm so sorry, I specifically told him that you didn't want to do this stupid tradition—,"

"Don't worry about it, Luce!" Cana laughed, as someone handed her the bouquet. The stressful wedding part was over, and she was four shots deep, which made for an extremely go-with-the-flow kind of bride. "It's just a stupid tradition, let's have fun with it!"

"But—,"

"C'mon, Lucy!" Mirajane laughed, tugging on her friend's hand, pulling her to the front of the crowd of women who weren't married. A silly tune started up and Lucy allowed herself to get caught up in the excitement. Cana might hate these kind of traditions, but Lucy absolutely loved them.

The crowd started chanting, as Cana pretended to warm up for her toss.

"1—2—3!"

Cana abruptly turned around and handed the collection of flowers to Lucy.

"W-what?" Lucy stammered, before a hand closed on her elbow and turned her around.

And there was Natsu, the biggest shit-eating grin on his face ever.

"What were you saying earlier?" he teased her, while Lucy could only stare. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small velvet box, and then got down on one knee.

"Oh, my God, oh my God, oh my God," Lucy hyperventilated. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she acknowledged that Cana was hugging her, and Levy was grinning, and Erza was crying. If she looked around, she would see Gray smirking and Gajeel grudgingly trading money with Loke, as if they had bet on when the dumbass would actually propose.

But she could only focus on the man she loved.

"Lucy Heartfilia," Natsu said, now a genuine, loving smile on his face. "You are my best friend, and the love of my life. Ever since we met, I knew that we were forever. I never want to stop going on adventures with you. Will you marry me?"

"YES!" Lucy screamed, and tackled him to the floor, and cheers erupted all around them as they kissed, and kissed, and kissed, because they were in love, and they loved their friends, and that's all that mattered.

* * *

BECAUSE I NEED MORE NALU IN MY LIFE, OKAY?


	2. pinterest & people

title: pinterest & people  
pairing: NaLu. because me. hints of galevy & gruvia.  
summary: The road to the altar is a scary one; a bride and groom need the best weapons and strongest warriors.  
disclaimer: I do not own _Fairy Tail_ , or _Friends,_ or _Parks & Rec_, of which there are hints of throughout this tale.

* * *

Natsu stumbled out of bed, almost tripping over their cat. His fiancée was slumped in on the couch, the way only someone staring at a computer screen for more than six hours could be. Her hair was in a rumpled mess; her glasses perched at the end of her nose. There was an array of late night snacking around her.

"Luce?" he asked, rubbing at his eyes. "What are you doing? Why aren't you in bed?"

"Babe," she replied, not taking her eyes off the screen. "Have you heard of this website, Pinterest? It's amazing. No, better than amazing. What's an adjective better than amazing? I don't know, but Pinterest is it."

Natsu threw himself onto the sofa beside her, blinking blearily at the screen. As Lucy scrolled, there was picture after picture of wedding venues, theme ideas, bridesmaid dresses, flower arrangements, and that was how much his brain could process at 3 am.

"I'm going back to bed," he yawned.

* * *

When Natsu returned from work, after a long shift with a lot of cases and none too many answers, Lucy was _still_ on the computer. Now, his wife-to-be was a journalist after all, so that did require a lot of screen time. However, she usually endeavored to at least get dressed.

"Lucy," he groaned, "are you _still_ on that Pin-thing?"

" _Pinterest,_ babe. _Pinterest,_ " Lucy replied, flipping her hand at him as a form of acknowledgment.

I'll take that as a yes, Natsu thought, venturing into the kitchen for something to eat. This revealed that, at some point, Lucy must have gotten off the computer—and her wedding planning website—as there was leftover pizza in the fridge.

"Good to see you at least spoke to another human being today," Natsu commented, pulling out a few slices for himself.

"What? Oh, I didn't have to call, silly! They have online ordering now."

Natsu groaned.

After polishing of his dinner, the pinket hopped the couch and landed beside his fiancée. She giggled as he did so, and he managed to divert her attention enough for a brief welcome home kiss and nuzzle. Their little kitten, Happy, managed to wiggle in between them, and purred contentedly as Natsu scratched is ears.

"So, how goes planning today?" he asked brightly, unafraid of any wedding meltdown. The past year planning Laxus' wedding had prepared him for how to handle Lucy's Wedding Meltdown Mode.

The blonde shoved a pad of paper and pencil into his hands.

"We're picking people tonight!" she announced, setting her laptop aside and grabbing at her cup of coffee. Lucy and Levy were the only people he knew who drank coffee at all hours; Gajeel agreed that it was a sign of unstable behavior.

"Picking people?" Natsu repeated, blankly. Lucy flipped her laptop screen around to show some sort of chart, labeled The Wedding Party. Somewhere in the corners of his mind, between picking a date and attempting to start a guest list, and now this, Natsu cursed Gajeel and his quickie courthouse wedding.

"Yep!" Lucy chirruped, flashing him a big, beautiful smile and he remembered just how much he loved this woman. "You have to decide who your best man and groomsmen will be."

"Oh, is that all?" Natsu asked, mentally cringing at the last wedding task Lucy had set him— _flower bouquets_ _, honestly?_

Lucy blinked at him, somewhere between startled and bemused. "Oh, you think it's that easy, huh?"

"Psh, easy peasy," Natsu replied, bending over the pad of paper.

"Really," said Lucy, a challenge in her skeptic tone. "Because I've been sitting here struggling all day over who to make my maid of honor—but hey, I'm sure _the great Natsu Dragneel_ will be _just freaking fine._ "

Natsu merely grinned at her, pressing the tip of the pencil to the yellow pad— _GrayZerefGajeelJellalLaxusLokeElfman—_ before his mind went completely blank.

"Fuck."

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

* * *

"I mean, when you think about it, it's like—we're so lucky!"

"What the hell are you blabbering about?"

"We're so lucky to have so many people we care about that we can't choose who to be our best man and maid of honor!"

"You're reaching, Natsu."

"Look on the bright side, Lucy!"

"Shut up," the bride-to-be groaned, chucking a pillow at her fiancee's head.

In the midst of their turmoil, the couple had roamed from their living room couch to their bed. It was a large, lumpy thing, full of too many blankets (because Lucy was always cold) and too many pillows (because Natsu was always sore). The mattress had been dragged from Lucy's first apartment, where she slept alone, to the house she shared with Natsu.

Happy had formed a little nest in between them, his blue face pressed into the crook of Natsu's knee. He had discarded the pad of paper in favor of wrapping his arms around Lucy, who was still glued to her laptop screen (he pretended not to notice the Pinterest tab open in the background) and the wedding binder had made an appearance (he feared this thing about all else.

Lucy had a tab open, labeled ULTIMATE WEDDING CHECK LIST. (Lucy was nothing if not organized…and competitive.)

It went something like this:

 _pick a date: July 2_ _nd_ _– **the day we met :-)** \- CHECK_

 _Colors & theme: grey & coral, peonies & champagne, rustic glam! – **idk what any of this means** \- CHECK_

 _Wedding Party: ? – **same**_

 _Guest List: try to stay under 200 people – **invite everyone!**_

"Okay, seriously, we have to figure this out _tonight_ ," Lucy moaned, for the tenth time that night. The faces of her friends—Levy, Erza, Cana, Mirajane, Juvia—flashed through her mind's eye, and she briefly contemplated a shot gun wedding.

"I have an idea," Natsu said, bolting up right. Lucy scrambled to save her laptop from plunging over the side, a certain death if she ever saw one. Clutching her precious baby close to her chest, the blonde peered at her fiancée.

She loved him dearly but _Natsu_ and _idea_ usually meant _explosion._

"What's your idea?" she asked, suspiciously.

"Okay, okay, take a deep breath," Natsu ordered her. "Close your eyes." She did so. "All right, now I'm gonna ask you a bunch of questions and you have to answer really fast without thinking—just say whatever comes to your brain first!"

"Ugh, Natsu…"

"C'mon, Luce! Trust me!"

Lucy cracked one eye open to catch the big grin on his face. Really, that smile wasn't fair to the rest of the world. And she never could resist it when he called her _Luce_.

"Okay, I'm ready," the blonde said.

"Would you rather breathe under water or breathe fire?"

" _Natsu,_ what does this have to do with the wedding?"

"No thinking!"

"Ugh, fine—fire."

"That's my girl—ow! No need to hit, Lucy. Okay, do you believe in ghosts?"

"Yes!"

"Favorite ice cream—chocolate or coffee?"

"Coffee."

"Which do you like better—writing or reading?"

"Writing."

"Who do you want as your maid of honor?"

"Erza."

"Bam—there you go."

Lucy opened her eyes, and smiled.

"You think it will be okay?" she said.

Natsu grinned at her. "Listen Luce, all of your friends love you. They'll support whatever you decide."

"What about Levy?"

"Psh, Levy had a shotgun wedding, she's disqualified," Natsu replied, dismissively. Lucy grinned at her fiancée. "And anyway, Erza is the only one who can handle Juvia's _crazy._ Girl gets wildly jealous when she drinks."

Lucy laughed, "Does that mean Gray is going to be your best man?"

Natsu shrugged, suddenly embarrassed. "Yeah, I guess the stripper is all right."

* * *

A week or so later, Gray came knocking on their apartment door for a night of videogames and beer. He waited a beat before kicking the door open, knowing they never locked it.

"Goddamn," he commented, blandly. "I think estrogen exploded in here."

This was because Lucy had attempted to assemble gifts for her future maid of honor and bridesmaids; there was glitter and tissue paper and wine glasses and sparkly things everywhere.

"Gray!" Lucy greeted, her blonde head popping up from behind stacks of bridal magazines. "Hi! How are you? Can you hand me that box please?"

"Um…sure."

Gray had learned to tread cautiously and obey around future brides.

"Thanks! Natsu is downstairs in his man cave."

Gray grunted by way of thanks, and booked it out of there.

"Hey dude," he greeted his best friend, though he'd rather die than admit that. The pinket was slouched on a shitty futon, controller in hands, buttons being mashed. Natsu paused the game and glanced up.

"What's up?"

"Is Lucy in full on bridezilla mode yet?" Gray asked, dropping down on the futon beside Natsu.

"I'd give her about two more months," Natsu replied, tossing Gray a controller and a beer. "How's Juvia handling everyone else getting hitched _besides you two?"_

"Man, shut up," Gray groaned.

An easy quiet fell between the friends, a comfortable silence that could only be achieved by life long friends, videogames, and beer. Natsu thought about their friendship over the years; from little shitheads to basketball teammates, to college roommates, to sitting in the basement of the house he owned his fiancée, asking about the girl Gray had been with for years now. Natsu hit play, and the battle began—button mashing, throwing elbows, talking shit, sharing beers, cracking jokes.

While Zeref was Natsu's half-brother—Gray was his real one.

"Yo," Natsu said, without looking at his friend.

"Hm?" Gray grunted back, focusing on wrecking the enemy in COD.

Natsu hit pause.

"Will you be my best man?"

Gray looked at his friend.

"Yeah, dude. Of course."

Natsu grinned, looking relieved. They shared a brief, bro-like hug, a clap on the back, an awkward clearing of throats.

"Now stop being a pussy and hit play—I'm murdering you!"

"Man, shut the fuck up!"

* * *

Upstairs, Lucy put the finishing touches on her bridesmaid boxes. They included a personalized bottle of mini champagne, a flute, a necklace with a charm of their initial, a T-shirt that read _Bridesmaid_ in bedazzled charms, and a cute little card that said, _I can't say I do without you!_

Erza's was specialized, and said _Maid of Honor_. Lucy had already talked with Levy about it, who giggled and said she was being silly. _It will mean more to Erza_ , Levy told her friend _, besides, I can still be Juvia's!_

Lucy invited all of her friends out for their annual Galentine's Day brunch, a day to celebrate the Awesomeness of Girlfriends. Levy, as usual, was right. The moment Erza realized her shirt read _Maid of Honor_ , she had gone deadly quiet. Lucy, terrified that she'd upset Erza somehow, had quickly realized her best friend was crying.

"Oh my God, stop!" Cana cried, waving hands in front of her eyes; an attempt to stop her own tears.

"Oh, Erza," Mirajane sighed, patting her redheaded friend supportively.

"Should I take the tears as a yes?" Lucy begged.

"Yes—YES! Lucy, of course! I will be the best Maid of Honor _ever!_ " Erza sobbed, grabbing her best friend in a bone-crushing hug.

"Erza…you're…choking…me…."

Somewhere back at the house, amidst Lucy's creative bridal explosion, and a delighted Happy playing with some discarded ribbon, a list read…

\- _Wedding Party: MOH, Erza. BM, Gray. Bridesmaids, Levy, Cana, Juvia, Mirajane. **Groomsmen, Gajeel, Laxus, Jellal, Zeref.** – CHECK **:-)**_

* * *

author's note: I've been meaning to write this for, like, ever. And then I did? IDK? Also, the Wedding Checklist, I'm trying to imply that _italic_ is Lucy's handwriting and **_bold_** is Natsu's.

I'm thinking I'll continue this series with Moments like...

\- making a guest list  
\- wedding dress shopping (okay maybe i watch say yes to the dress huh?)  
\- picking the food/planning the honeymoon  
\- bachelor/bachelorette party  
\- the night before  
\- the actual wedding

...any other ideas? Requests?  
READ AND REVIEW MAYBE :D


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